The Trump administration is undertaking a significant restructuring of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), planning to reassign senior leaders across the agency’s field offices nationwide. This move comes amid growing frustration within the administration over the current levels of arrests and deportations carried out by ICE, according to two sources familiar with the internal changes who spoke to CBS News. The planned shake-up could impact roughly half of ICE’s 25 field offices, with around a dozen local leaders expected to be reassigned. Some of these officials have already been notified about their new assignments.
Rather than demoting or firing the affected officials, the administration aims to redistribute leadership in a way that provides additional support to certain ICE offices. Many of the vacancies created by these reassignments are anticipated to be filled by current or former officials from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), ICE’s sister agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The integration of CBP personnel into ICE’s leadership ranks signals a strategic shift in how the administration plans to ramp up immigration enforcement efforts.
Under President Trump, CBP and its Border Patrol agents have increasingly played a central role in the broader federal crackdown on illegal immigration. Notably, CBP personnel like Commander Gregory Bovino have been deployed far beyond the U.S.-Mexico border to conduct apprehensions in interior locations, including major Democratic-led cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles. These operations have involved Border Patrol agents making arrests in public places like Home Depot parking lots and workplaces such as car washes. However, these high-profile actions have sparked considerable backlash from local communities and immigrant advocates, who accuse the agents of being overly aggressive and arresting undocumented immigrants who lack criminal records.
In response to inquiries about the leadership changes at ICE, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told CBS News that while no personnel changes were being officially announced at the time, the Trump administration remains focused on its goal of removing violent criminal illegal aliens from the country. Similarly, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson emphasized that the President’s team is united in implementing the administration’s immigration policies, highlighting the “tremendous results” achieved in securing the border and deporting criminal immigrants.
The Washington Examiner was the first to report on the impending ICE leadership reassignments earlier on the same day. Internally, sources within the administration reveal that some ICE leaders have expressed frustration with the Border Patrol’s aggressive operations in cities, particularly given the negative reactions from local residents and politicians. While the Trump administration has adopted a broad policy that anyone found in the U.S. illegally can be subject to arrest, ICE maintains that its own operations primarily focus on individuals who have committed additional crimes beyond immigration violations.
One anonymous U.S. official described the distinction bluntly: “We’re arresting criminals, while they [Border Patrol] are going to Home Depots and car washes.” This highlights a tension between ICE and Border Patrol over enforcement priorities and tactics. Despite the criticism, some officials within the administration see Border Patrol agents as better suited to carry out the aggressive and expansive operations necessary to meet the administration’s ambitious arrest targets.
This tension reflects a broader challenge faced by the Trump administration in meeting its deportation goals. In the spring of 2025, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, a key architect of the President’s mass deportation strategy, publicly urged ICE to conduct “a minimum” of 3,000 arrests per day during an appearance on Fox News. However, ICE has consistently fallen short of this target. While the agency has occasionally surpassed 2,000 arrests on some days, its typical daily rate hovers around 1,000.
According to internal agency data obtained by CBS News, ICE had carried out over 260,000 arrests since the start of the second Trump administration, averaging roughly 900 arrests per day. Despite these efforts, the administration’s goals remain ambitious and the pressure to increase enforcement continues to mount.
The leadership shake-up at ICE is not the first under the current administration. Since taking office, the Trump administration has repeatedly shuffled ICE’s leadership ranks. Caleb Vitello was initially appointed to lead ICE under the second Trump term but was reassigned in February 2025. He was replaced by Todd Lyons, a longtime ICE veteran who continues to serve as acting director. Additionally, heads of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations—the unit responsible for deportations—as well as its investigative branch, Homeland Security Investigations, have also been replaced within the past several months.
A notable challenge facing ICE is the absence of a